Friday, February 08, 2013

Some 2,000 people are still in a critical situation without food, water and
shelter following the eruption of Mount Rokatenda last Saturday, a volcano located
on the small island of Palu'e, Sikka Regency, East Nusa Tenggara province.

Given
the scant media coverage, the critical situation became clear thanks to priests
and Catholic residents on the mostly Christian island.

At present, the dioceses
of Jakarta and Maumere have mobilised their resources to provide help to the
people that have been displaced.
After abandoning their
homes, residents sailed to neighbouring islands in Sikka and Maumere regencies on
small fishing boats. But after three days, the situation remains critical.No one has been killed
or injured thus far, but displaced residents need food, water and other basic
items, which local authorities are unprepared to provide.For this reason, the
dioceses of Jakarta and Maumere have stepped in to help the displaced, as Palu'e
native Fr Hilde Tanga explained.

The situation, he said, was still serious. Irene Setiadi, from the
KBKK charity group, told AsiaNews
that clothing, blankets, cereals for children as well as water and food would
be brought.At 875 metres above sea
level, Mount Rokatenda has caused problems for the residents before. The worst episode
in recent history occurred in 1928 when a powerful tsunami followed the eruption.Made up of thousands of
islands and atolls, Indonesia is part of what scientists call the 'ring of fire'
on the edge of the Pacific Ocean with intense seismic and volcanic activity
caused by the movement of tectonic plates.

Most people still
remember the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Aceh in December 2004,
killing hundreds of thousands of people across Asia.